Swerve Left To Avoid That Satellite: The Growing Issue Of Space Debris

It's a serious subject. Space debris threatens the lives of astronauts and the launch of new satellites today, says Dr. Noam Eliaz, Head of the Biomaterials and Corrosion Laboratory at the School of Mechanical Engineering at Tel Aviv University. An expert in materials science and engineering, Dr. Eliaz is working with a team at Soreq NRC to create and test new materials to make the heavens safer for satellites and astronauts alike.

Hazards in Space

The oldest piece of "space junk" is the U.S. satellite Vanguard I, launched in 1958 and still in orbit. "Space debris has become a major concern recently, since collisions with such debris at ultrahigh velocities could be a disaster for spacecraft that pass through Earth's orbit," says Dr. Eliaz. "An impact could be catastrophic."

Eliaz says that the combined effects of other components in the space environment, such as atomic oxygen, might increase the damage. The researcher, a past Fulbright and Rothschild scholar at MIT, is investigating new kinds of materials that could be used on spacecraft surfaces to protect against such hazards.

Finding an Answer in Materials Science

Eliaz is developing nano-based materials with special mechanical properties, such as high strength and wear resistance, and controllable electrical and thermal properties. "This could lead to a superior material for the external blankets of spacecraft," says Eliaz, whose research has already been put to use by top biomedical device companies and by aircraft industries worldwide.

One candidate Eliaz and his colleagues have investigated is a hybrid nanomaterial which incorporates small silicon-containing cages that can open and react with atomic oxygen to prevent further polymer degradation.

The team includes Dr. Eitan Grossman, Head of the Materials Group within the Space Environment Section at Soreq NRC in Israel, and his staff Dr. Irina Gouzman and Ronen Verker, the latter also a Ph.D. student at TAU. Recent research by Eliaz and his colleagues at Soreq has been published in the journals Acta Materialia, Polymer and High Performance Polymers.